'Golden mummies' of Egypt's princes found

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The Independent
By Antonio Castaneda in Bahariya, Egypt
13 December 2004


The tomb of a member of a powerful family that governed a swath of western Egypt about 2,500 years ago was unveiled yesterday, along with a dozen recently discovered mummies from Roman times.

The mummies are among 400 to 500 located thus far in what Egypt calls the Valley of the Golden Mummies - where thousands were believed entombed. The rare limestone sarcophagus that covered Badi-Herkhib - the older brother of a governor of Bahariya who lived around 500BC - was discovered last week, allowing archaeologists to study more closely a family that ruled this part of Egypt.

"This family was so powerful that they could import the limestone from about 62 miles away," said Mansour Boraik, the senior archaeologist who oversees the Bahariya site. The large sarcophagus was several inches thick and thought to weigh 15 tons. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said the discovery of the tomb was unexpected.

"As a matter of fact, the family tree did not mention the person we found," said Dr Hawass. He said the tomb was robbed during the Roman era.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=592527

[derby378]

1. Cool!

Was this related to that live dig Discovery Channel was covering last week?

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2. maybe...saw it on UK's Channel 5